Malvern water

[4] In the 19th century Malvern became famous for the water cure, resulting in its rapid development from a village to a busy town with many large Victorian and Edwardian hotels.

[15][16] Malvern water is rainwater and snow meltwater that percolates through fissures created by the pressures of tectonic movements about 300 million years ago when advancing sedimentary layers of Silurian shale and limestone were pushed into and under older Precambrian rock.

In 1987 Malvern gained official EU status as a natural mineral water, a mark of purity and quality.

[26] There are sources in about 70 locations around the Hills,[27] where residents regularly fill containers free of charge, including the St Ann's Well,[28] which is housed in a building dating from 1815, in the town of Great Malvern.

[2] These are part of "an old song in praise of Malvern", that was published with comments on a different and uncertain provenance by Chambers in his history of the town.

[4] To drink thy waters store, Lie in bushesMany with ulcers sore; Many with bruises.Who succour find from ill, By money given stillThanks to the Christian will; O praise the Lord.

A thousand bottles here, were filled weekly, And many costrils rare, for stomachs sickly;Some were to London sent, Some of them into Kent,Others on to Berwick went, O praise the Lord.

[36] In a letter dated 18 July 1759 to Mrs Montague, Benjamin Stillingfleet wrote: "I have been at Malvern about twelve days, where, with difficulty, I have got a lodging, the place is so full, nor do I wonder at it, there being some instances of very extraordinary cures, in cases looked on as desperate, even by Dr. Wall, who first brought these waters into vogue ...

[37] Chambers, in a footnote to the "song" quoted above, wrote "Though modern visitors do not now lie in bushes, yet so crowded was Malvern one season that a lady of rank and fashion, with her equipage and servants were actually obliged to be sent to the Workhouse.

[38] In 1828, William Addison, the physician of the Duchess of Kent (mother of Queen Victoria) lectured about Malvern at the Royal Institution commending "its pure and invigorating air, the excellence of its water, and the romantic beauty of its scenery".

[43] Based on the therapy offered at Vincent Priessnitz's clinic in Gräfenberg, Silesia,[6][44] then part of the Austrian Empire (now in the Czech Republic), the centre was Britain's first purpose-built water cure establishment.

[66] Apart from various fundraising activities and membership fees, the MSA receives funding through the Heritage Lottery Fund,[67] which is managed by the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Unit (Malvern Hills AONB),[68] under the umbrella of the National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (NAAONB).

[68] The MSA was founded by the Spa Water Strategy Working Group, comprising Malvern town councillors and artist Rose Garrard.

[65][66] The MSA produces a free newsletter available at the Tourist Information Centre in Great Malvern, at St Ann's Well and for download.

[74] In August 2008, the group's St Werstan award for conservation or renovation of the springs and wells and their surroundings was presented to Coca-Cola Great Britain.

[61] At the behest of the Friends, the company is also sponsoring a project to transfer an iconic mulberry tree sapling from Melbourne, Australia.

The sapling derives from a cutting taken from a mulberry tree originally planted in 1936 by George Bernard Shaw at the Malvern Festival.

According to research made by local historians, a tradition of well dressing in the Malverns dates from the 12th and 13th centuries when around 5 August each year, tribute was paid to St Oswald for water cures.

[78] Its cost of £5,000 was funded by the Malvern Hills District Council, public subscription, and support from by Severn Trent Water, West Midlands Arts, and local businesses.

[78] Located on the Bellevue Terrace island in the very centre of the town, together with the statue of Edward Elgar,[59] the group of sculptures embodies both music and water, the two major aspects of Malvern's cultural history.

Each year in April a well dressing competition is organised around a theme set by the Malvern Spa Association, with Gold, Silver and Bronze awards presented to adult's and children's groups.

[80] In 2003, photographer Bob Bilsland gave permission to the BBC to publish 21 of his special panaoramic views of the decorated wells and spouts.